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Topic: FF8 Mesmerize

Mesmerizes are robust, horse-like creatures that can potentially be encountered in Squaresoft's 1999 Final Fantasy VIII Playstation video game. They favor open plains where they can gallop to-and-fro and graze as they please. Their thick coats also allow them to live comfortably in cold environments, so it is not at all uncommon to find herds of them milling about in snowfields as well. Mesmerizes are herbivores, subsisting largely on grasses, lichens, mosses, and similar fare.

In combat, a Mesmerize primarily relies on its unique, blade-like horn. This thin, sickle-shaped growth is incredibly keen, so much so that it can even slice through metal. The animal can slash with it in close quarters, cleave through the enemy with devastating galloping charges, or, most frightening of all, actually detach and fling the horn with a toss of its head, like a boomerang, to rip apart any opponent outside its immediate reach (the blade somehow magically reattaches itself to the Mesmerize's forehead when it returns from its flight). Should this edged weapon not prove effective against an enemy, Mesmerizes can also deliver crushing blunt force trauma via powerful kicks with their hooves.

It is possible to snap a Mesmerize's horn off during battle, which naturally decreases the animal's offensive capabilities considerably. Assuming the handicapped creature survives the fight, a Mesmerize generally regrows the structure in 1-3 weeks, depending on the severity of the break. In practice, however, damaging the horn is a technique that is seldom employed, at least not by intelligent creatures, because intact Mesmerize Blades are a valuable commodity on the open market. These trophies can be refined to create potent High Potions, Mega Potions, or Regeneration Magic. This makes Mesmerizes desirable targets for hunters and healers alike.

All attempts to domesticate Mesmerizes have, thus far, met with complete failure--the animals are simple too independent in spirit and prone to violence. Even a newborn colt, taken from its mother and weaned by hand, quickly becomes unmanageable and dangerous. Should anyone ever succeed in taming one, a Mesmerize would doubtlessly make an incredibly effective war steed.

The Mandragora is a sentient and mobile plant species that can potentially be encountered in Squaresoft's 2000 Final Fantasy IX Sony Playstation video game. They prefer to temporarily root in forest glades and on windswept plateaus where they can get plenty of the sunlight that they require to photosynthesize energy. Behavior-wise, these maniacal herbs seem to derive enjoyment from causing mischief and injury. Mandragorae seldom pass up an opportunity to harass anyone or anything that wanders into their territory, even foolishly targeting organisms many times larger than themselves (like dragons) that they have little chance of defeating.

Despite their small size, Mandragorae have several dangerous offensive options at their disposal. The shriek of these leafy miscreants is infamous, and with good reason: anyone who hears the ear-splitting wail will be struck dumb. This is a particularly hazardous situation for mages, because they will be unable to chant the words to any of their spells until the condition is cured. All Mandragorae produce delicious chest nuts, and they delight in hurling them at their opponents with alarming accuracy. While the seeds only sting initially, as the Mandragora becomes injured, the creature is able to impart some of its pain, through a kind of little-understood empathy magic, into the kernel. So, the closer to death a Mandragora gets, the more dangerous its missiles become--even a mighty foe can find itself felled by the tiny chest nut of a dying Mandragora. Finally, by channeling water up from the earth on which it stands, through its roots, a Mandragora can unleash a devastating blast of Blizzara ice magic that can freeze flesh solid almost instantly.

Like most flora, Mandragorae burn easily. In addition to destroying them outright, open flames can sometimes be employed to frighten the vile vegetables away. Mandragorae are also more than a little demented, so any attempts to befuddle their already scrambled minds with the Confuse or Berserk status effects are ineffective.

Articulation: The four large leaves have bendable wire running through their entire lengths, which, in addition to preventing them from ever wilting under their own weight, allows them to be repositioned/bent into different configurations.

I've got waaaaaaaaay too many figures to take a shot of them all (over 300+), plus it'd be a logistical nightmare just rounding them all up. I periodically take small group photos of related figures, like the above FF9 monster one, but not large ones of everything.

This figure is based on the illustration, by Robert Bliss, that appears on the 1996 Magic: The Gathering Goblin Soothsayer card found in the Mirage expansion set. Said artwork depicts a goblin shaman, perched on a gnarled tree branch, practicing the ancient art of divination through the examination of fresh entrails by moonlight (hopefully the guts came from an animal, but, given the creature's sacrificial power during gameplay, it's far more likely that the innards were involuntarily donated by one of its' kin.) The Goblin Soothsayer is an uncommon card that costs a single red mana to summon, and, as one would expect from that small investment of magical energy, it's only a weak 1/1 (power/toughness) monster. In addition to attacking/blocking with it, the controlling player may instead choose to activate the Goblin Soothsayer's special ability by paying one red mana, tapping the card, and sacrificing any goblin; in exchange, all red creatures in play are granted a temporary +1 bonus to both their power and toughness until the end of that turn.

"Okay, these slimy guts tell me that you two should worship me as a god and that I get all the women, money, and booze. What? The sacred intestines don't lie!"

Goblin Soothsayer Magic: The Gathering collectible game card from the Mirage expansion set.

Clodhopper

Gaudily-dressed walking eggs that can be randomly encountered in Sega's 1991 Shining in The Darkness Genesis/Megadrive roleplaying video game, which was developed by Climax Entertainment/Sonic! Software Planning. More recently, said title has also been made available as a download for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console and as a selection on the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection compilation. Shining in The Darkness is notable for being the first game released in the ongoing Shining RPG franchise, although, in terms of gameplay, it's a first-person dungeon crawler, not a tactical warfare simulation like the more popular Shining Force installments of said series. The monsters Clodhopper, Deathgrin, and Mazerunner all share the same base game sprite, although they do have different color schemes and attributes.

The exact origin of these strange creatures is unknown, but scholars believe that such a ridiculous-looking organism could only have arisen as a direct result of some arrogant wizard playing god (the most popular hypothesis involves a hungry sorcerer by the name of Gongge and his disastrous attempt to create enchanted eggs that could hard-boil themselves.) Regardless of how they came into existance, Clodhoppers, Deathgrins, and Mazerunners can be found wandering, in great numbers, throughout the corridors of the mysterious Labyrinth in the Kingdom of Thornwood. While their comical appearance and jovial grins might lead the inexperienced adventurer to consider them harmless, or, even worse, friendly, these strutting eggs are malicious and dangerous combatants. During battle, these monsters exhibit an uncanny ability to find any weak points their adversaries may have, often crippling, or even killing, a foe with a single well-placed kick to an unprotected vital area.

That's actually really neat. Since you seem to like Final Fantasy mobs, I surprised you haven't made the Cactuar yet. The epic cactus of doom with a whopping two whole frames of animation would be a perfect candidate for one of these.Seriously though, great stuff dude.